2003 Cadillac DTS any issues?

[mrthor]

Hello all!

My name is Thor from McHenry IL and I am new to your site. I am the happy owner of a 05 Escalade. I am looking for a driver for my wife to use for commuting 100 miles per day since the fuel economy is not the greatest on the Escalade. We found a very nice one owner 03 DTS with 85K. Any thing I need to look out for or worry about down the road if I purchase it?

Thank you,

Thor

[JimD]

There are several steps you should consider before buying a soon-to-be eight year old DTS.

Take the VIN to a GM dealer (preferably Cadillac) and ask the service dept. to run a service history report for you. The report will list actions performed each time the vehicle was serviced at a GM dealer location and that will include warranty work. Pay attention to cooling system service because the DexCool should have been drained and replaced sometime in 2008 regardless of mileage. It's not possible to overstate the importance of proper coolant service intervals. If you cannot document a cooling system service in the history, walk away.

Another step is the display the Diagnostic Trouble Codes. The how-to is attached. You should pay attention to "P" and "C" codes.

Good luck....

Code Retrieval.txt

[mrthor]

Thanks for the good advise. Anything else I need to watch for?

[Ranger]

Hi neighbor! Pull the DTC's as JimD suggested. Take it for a test drive and floor it in 2nd gear til you hit 70. Then and only then get out of the throttle. Watch the temp gauge. It should not move.

If you should be interested in an '02 Seville SLS with 50K on it, my daughter want to sell hers.

[Cadillac Jim]

You will get two or three more MPG out of a Cadillac that doesn't have a "T" as its middle initial. The difference is that the "T" indicates the Touring package, which includes the 300 hp (maybe 5 hp less with the longer Deville exhaust system) and a lower final gear ratio, translating to better performance but higher engine cruising RPM. Unless you really want the extra 25 hp (as I do; my car is an ETC), you will likely be happier with the SLS or a Deville with the 275 hp engine. Look for a "Y" in position 8 in the VIN number. The 300 hp models will have a "9" in position 8.